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REMEMBER THIS: Wishing for second helping of Mother’s Pizza Parlour (4 photos)

Restaurant opened on Bayfield Street in 1976 and remained extremely popular — and affordable — for several years

Ask any longtime Barrie resident about which restaurants of the past they miss the most. Very few of those lists would be without Mother’s Pizza Parlour and Spaghetti House.

Known to most simply as Mother’s, the Barrie location opened its doors on Dec. 7, 1976. This new restaurant occupied 312 Bayfield St., which had previously housed an A&P grocery store, and was located in the area of the present-day Canadian Tire parking lot.

The new Mother’s was a 7,000-square-foot restaurant with 174 seats. Out of 881 eager applicants, 690 interviews had been conducted and 175 staff members hired.

This beloved Barrie eatery was part of a Canadian chain of restaurants and was, in fact, the 18th location in Ontario. Started in Hamilton, Ont., in 1970, the filling and flavourful Italian fare combined with a fun vintage-style décor made Mother’s an instant hit.

Within a month of opening day, that initial Mother’s restaurant was named to Hamilton’s top 10 restaurants list by the Hamilton Spectator.

The year 1976 was boom time for this section of Bayfield Street. The Bayfield Mall was only three years old, as was the Ponderosa Steak House which today houses Red Lobster. The now-vacant Crock & Block had arrived two years prior and Burger King would open up the following year.

What was it about Mother’s that made it so appealing? Very likely, it was a variety of things: casual and family-friendly dining in a fun atmosphere; a menu of fresh, familiar and delicious dishes; and prices that went easy on the wallet.

The theme, as described by manager Lawrence Campbell on opening day, was the Roaring 20s. Barrie residents had never seen something like this in their city before and Mother’s was immediately popular.

Tiffany lamps, red and white table cloths, antique chairs, framed newspapers, silent movies on screen, the sounds of big band music in the background and retro attired servers all added to the atmosphere.

Mother’s actually had a subsidiary company attached to it, an antique dealership, which was responsible for furnishing all of the authentic vintage pieces that added to the old style charm they were looking for. The vibe had somewhat cheeky bootlegger and hoodlum undertones, as later television commercials portraying disgruntled Chicago gangsters showed. All in good fun, a sort of earlier version of East Side Mario’s, but many would argue Mother’s did it better.

At the same time, Mother’s didn’t mess around with their food quality. They boasted that everything was freshly made and nothing but their old-fashioned spumoni ice cream was ever frozen.

Wouldn’t we all like another chance at Mother’s weekly Wednesday Noodle Night special? Just 99 cents for a huge plate of spaghetti covered in Mother’s secret pasta sauce, and served with fresh buns. A second helping was free.

Monday was Father’s Night at Mother’s. A large three-item pizza for $2.49. The Spaghetti Banquet, a family-sized spaghetti dinner with all the extras, was a hugely popular takeout meal for any occasion. It set you back just $7.95.

Mother’s is remembered as the place to go for graduations, birthday parties and anniversaries. Many have fond memories of root beer floats served in Mother’s signature, and now highly collectible, flare glasses.

Unfortunately, all of the Mother’s outlets went the way of the dinosaurs by the early 1990s. Bit by bit, locations were bought up and closed until the Little Caesars purchased the remainder. Then there were none.

The warm nostalgia feeling has never gone away. In fact, two investors who are Mother’s fans from way back made a grand attempt at restarting the brand about a decade ago. Hamilton, Brantford, Kitchener and Waterloo all saw Mother’s Pizza locations return again only to see them shuttered again in a few short years.

The failure of that reboot is unfortunate. It may be that Mother’s Pizza Parlour and Spaghetti House, with its definite brand and theme, was ahead of it’s time in the 1970s  unique in the restaurant landscape. It perhaps paved the way for other chains who benefit from definite themes, but Mother’s cannot compete with them in today’s market.

They can’t take our memories, or our flare glasses, away!

Each week, the Barrie Historical Archive provides BarrieToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past. This unique column features photos and stories from years gone by and is sure to appeal to the historian in each of us.


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Mary Harris

About the Author: Mary Harris

Mary Harris is the Director of History and Research at the Barrie Historical Archive. The Barrie Historical Archive is a free, online archive that centralizes Barrie's historical content.
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